An Irish bar owner in Rhodes has said local business owners are helping with the efforts to contain wildfires on the island.
Tens of thousands of people have fled wildfires on the Greek island as terrified tourists scrambled to get home.
There were also reports of wildfires breaking out on Corfu, another popular Greek island, with land and sea evacuations under way late last night.
Janet Karamanos, who is originally from Dublin, said people who ordinarily work in resort bars and restaurants have stopped working in order to volunteer to fight the wildfires.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, she said locals are also working to bring their own families to safety in the north of the island and as a result, businesses in areas unaffected by fires are closing.
Ms Karamanos said everyone is doing their best to help those affected by the fire.
She said the operators of a glass-bottomed boat has stopped running its tours and is using the boat to bring people from hotels near the fire to safety, she said.
Ms Karamanos, who lives in Pefkos, said conditions there are currently ok, but that the heat remains "chronic".
On average, in direct sun, temperatures could rise to 47C, she said.
"It's just a dead heat and there's no fans or air conditioning, plus the heat from obviously the blaze and fires as well. That's added to the normal 40 degree. It's just boiling all the time."
She said the main concern is smoke inhalation, but said she is 5 to 7km away from the worst of the fires and evacuations.
The wind directions keep changing, Ms Karamanos said, which makes it hard for emergency workers to contain the fires.
Bridget Davidson from Bangor in Co Down was evacuated with her husband from the island over the weekend.
Ms Davidson was there with her husband for a friend's wedding.
She described the experience as terrifying and said it was difficult to breathe.
Speaking to RTÉ’s News at One, she said that they were told to evacuate by hotel staff on Saturday and made their way to the beach with their passports and only the clothes they had on.
She said staff gave them towels which they were told to soak and put them over their heads.
Ms Davidson said that there were hundreds of people with children on the beach.
She said after walking around 3km down the beach they made their way to the road and were told by the police they could not go further. They were able to get on a coach to a nearby village and thought they would have to sleep on the streets.
However, they found a bench to sleep on, but a local man told them that the fire was coming and that boats were arranged at the beach.
She said they got on a boat at 2am on Sunday and sailed through the night.
After staying overnight in a hotel, they made their way to the airport and she said there are no flights until tomorrow.
She thanked the local people and described them as "absolutely phenomenal".
